As Greece prepares to welcome travelers from the European Union and other parts of the world on its safe list, the government is ramping up efforts to increase Covid vaccination coverage on the country’s islands, which receive the bulk of summer tourism.

A vaccination drive is already under way on dozens of islands with populations below 10,000 full-time residents; now the objective is to expand it to bigger islands, with populations above that number. 

“The aim is the universal and full vaccination of all permanent residents on the islands by the end of June at the latest,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said after a meeting on the subject at his office on Tuesday.

He added that the government’s campaign, dubbed “Blue Freedom,” will also have a favorable impact on the country’s tourism profile as a whole.

Key to the campaign’s success is the use of the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine, which will be rolled out on 19 islands as soon as possible.

According to government figures, the residents of 32 islands have already been vaccinated against Covid-19 and those of another 36 islands will be inoculated by the end of May.

The meeting hosted by Mitsotakis also addressed the further lifting of restrictions aimed at curbing the virus, with announcements on that front expected on Wednesday, at the Health Ministry’s regular public briefing.

This article was first published on ekathimerini.com.